As the environmental lobby
gains momentum, the
advent of the totally paperless
warehouse is not as impossible
as it may sound, says Anthea
van Breemen of Macro 2000.
And nor is it necessarily an
expensive option.
“Radio-frequency
Identification (RFID) is here
and can achieve that paperless
warehouse environment, but
bar code scanning is still the
less expensive option.”
According to Van Breemen
bar code scanning
has long been the
performance booster
of the warehousing
industry, possibly more so in
cold storage, and can be used
very successfully across the
supply chain – even in container
tracking.
“Bar code scanning gives
you better accuracy through
elimination of human error,
versatile, rapidly available
information, and data integrity.
Scanning improves inventory
control when used correctly
as every movement in or out
of the warehouse, cold store
or container depot is recorded
at actual inventory item
and not the planned item,” she
explains. “What happens in nonscanning
environments is that the
planned inventory item cannot
be located, so
a similar item
is dispatched,
but the original
is taken off
the computer
system. With
bar code
scanning,
planning is just
that, a plan to
move specific
inventory
items,
but at dispatch the actual
items moved are scanned
and the system is updated
with the correct inventory
leaving the premises.”
Van Breemen says
bar code scanning
also improves the speed of
transacting, with variance reports
for checking and balancing before
closing off any documents and
updating inventory.
“We have taken this a step
further and moved towards
eliminating paper even more.
Forklift truck drivers now have
tablets in
their vehicles.
Instructions
for picking or
to put away are
automatically
sent to their
devices. These
are listed by
priority, where
a priority can
be changed or
re-organised
by the
operations manager should
this become necessary instead
of giving them instructions on
paper.”
Automatic emailing of
all documents and reports,
she says, has long been an
integral part of the Macro
2000 software, all of which
contributes to a paperless
environment.
INSERT & CAPTION
Radio-frequency
Identification (RFID) is
here and can achieve
that paperless warehouse
environment.
– Anthea van Breemen
Totally paperless warehouse ‘not impossible’
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